Cav's Place

Three months ago, I was expressing disappointment at the results obtained by CSM Bucuresti and Rapid in the Women’s Handball Champions’ League, especially since this may well be the last season when they have access to the funds that allow them to keep all those great players, and the transfers which have so far been announced seem to confirm this. However, while in CSM’s case the disappointments keep coming one after the other and they’re currently likely to end up fifth in that group that they were initially said to be unable to finish lower than third even if they tried, things are much more frustrating when it comes to Rapid.
Sure, the fact that they lost the three matches played since the start of the year is not a surprise and neither is their current position, the next match probably deciding whether they’ll manage to grab sixth place or not, downright shocking being their thrilling home win against Vipers from November. However, the manner in which they lost these matches is just heartbreaking. Maybe somewhat less so in case of the one against Metz, where the missing players forced them to use more or less the same team and it was expected that they’ll tire before the end, and that proved to be the case in the last ten minutes, while in the last five they pretty much collapsed and ended up losing by three goals, yet the fact remains that they played amazingly well. Or, as one commentator put it, “they played as never before and lost as always”. But heartbreaking really is the right way to describe losing the year’s first match, away against Krim, in the final seconds, after such a tight match that Rapid nevertheless led most of the time, Krim only leading twice, at 2-1 and right there when it mattered, at the very end.
And then there was today’s match, away against Ikast, which was pretty much the same… If not even worse. Ikast pulled away at first and led throughout the first half, but Rapid recovered, equalizing at the start of the second half, and the rest of the match was as tight as it could possibly be, neither team being more than one goal ahead at any point. It was 28-28 with four minutes to go, and no more goals were scored for the next three and a half minutes. Then Ikast made it 29-28, with 30 seconds to go. So Rapid played seven against six and rushed to equalize, to at least obtain one point, and they did score, with 11 seconds to go. But those seconds were enough for Ikast to put the ball into the empty net, the goalkeeper not managing to get back in time. And you can’t blame them for anything, they did nothing wrong, they didn’t squander a lead, actually fighting back during the first half, and at the end they did the only thing they could do in that situation, seeing as they needed to score, so they couldn’t keep the goalkeeper on or refuse that shot in order to keep the ball until the end. So the first part of that commentator’s statement, from the match against Metz, is starting to become less true, because they are playing really well, against teams that at the moment should be well above their level… But the second part remains just as true, because they still lose anyway, and at this point they may not even make it past the group stage…

Three months ago, I was somewhat relieved when the European Central Bank submitted an opinion in which it stressed the importance of the continued availability of cash payments and actually requested a ban on “no cash” policies, and of course also by the ECB’s page about the role of cash, which does a really good job of briefly and accurately explaining the benefits of sticking to cash. And, just earlier this week, the Bundesbank presented the results of a study about the future of cash use, which expresses alarm at the possibility that access to and acceptance of cash may not be fully guaranteed and stresses that measures need to be taken to ensure the preservation and widespread use of cash, allowing people to decide for themselves whether to pay in cash or not.
However, instead of indicating the direction that is to be taken, the Bundesbank’s release was actually meant to raise the alarm about the fact that things are moving in the opposite one, seeing as it came a day before the announcement that the European Union reached a provisional agreement on various measures that, under the guise of fighting against money laundering, include limiting cash payments to €10000 and more surveillance of transactions, including verifying those who just happen to occasionally pay at least €3000 in cash. The package still needs to be formally adopted and it includes other measures that seem reasonable, and plenty of member states already have limits on cash payments that are even lower than €10000, which will still be allowed under the new regulations, plus that €10000 is a high enough limit that it shouldn’t really affect regular people in their everyday lives, but setting such a limit at the level of the European Union sets a precedent and sends a dangerous message.
Even with this limit, anyone may at some point buy or sell real estate or motorized vehicles, for example, in which case they may well be forbidden from using or accepting cash, and that lower threshold of €3000 that may put people under scrutiny may be reached in far more scenarios and by far more individuals. But, again, the harder part is setting the first limit, as once that happens it’s likely to be far easier to change it, most likely in order to make it ever more restrictive in the future. And the very concept of including a limit above which cash payments are forbidden and one above which those who make cash transactions are to be verified as part of a package against money laundering that is to be implemented in the entire European Union sends the dangerous message that, despite all of the real benefits of sticking to, or at least preferring, cash, those who do so are to be seen as potential criminals, that using cash is somehow suspicious by default.

On January 5, I got up after the alarm rang, at 1 PM, but after waking up the second time a little after 12:30 PM and deciding against going to pee again, I’m not sure if I managed to get back to sleep, and if I did, it was only for one or two very brief naps. Then I had the usual stuff, with the apple being a really tasty bio (organic) one and the sweet thing consisting of some nicer but expired biscuits, with added honey. On the other hand, after complaining that, on December 31, which should have been the last day of the campaign, I had attempted to take 50 RON in coins to Carrefour one more time but had been told, in two locations, that the campaign had already ended, I had received a message stating that they’ll be waiting for me at Obor in order to change those coins and also give me that gift card, so I asked for confirmation that what will happen was exactly what should have happened on December 31 and received it… But I also received a notification from Emsisoft, stating that my supposedly inactive device was going to be removed, since they had apparently introduced automatic removals of inactive devices, but that “inactive” device is actually my computer, since I’m managing to avoid connecting it to the “workspace”, so I asked them to not remove it, not knowing what would happen if it would be removed, and the initial reply tried to convince me that the “inactive” device was a different device and I must have another subscription for the active one. Things were sorted out a couple of days later, when they said that, following feedback, they disabled that “feature”, but at that point I was quite concerned. Still, I had to run that day, so I left at 3:45 PM, wearing the full running gear. The reported temperature was about 15°C, dropping by a few degrees by the time I finished.
The time was 48:09.82, with sector times of 4:10.41, 5:17 (5:16.63), 5:51.84, 4:33 (4:32.13), 5:03.22, 5:59 (5:58.84), 4:33.31, 5:05 (5:04.85), 5:47 (5:46.84) and 1:51.75, making for lap times of 15:18.88, 15:35 (15:34.19) and 15:25.00. I gave everything from the start, hoping for another really fast first sector, to knock all of those with 4:08 out of the top ten, and what I managed was very disappointing, and in fact even concerning. Admittedly, I did need to squeeze through two roadblocks, one of them on the long straight, but without those I’d have probably only managed yet another 4:08, if even that. Either way, I then expected to be slow on sector two, since I had to recover, but that time was a little worse than I thought it’d be and even staying on the pace for 48 minutes on that first lap seemed unlikely. In the end, I just managed it, but it was clear that I won’t keep that up, so I was hoping to at least stay under 48:30, yet when lap two seemed to pretty much ensure that, I even wondered whether I could really push on lap three and get under 48 minutes after all. But that was next to impossible to begin with, and sector one of lap three made it clear that I had no chance, yet I still did my best, pushing even harder on sector three of lap three and actually managing a good time on that sector, though I only saw that at the end, since I didn’t check the time at the end of the lap. So it was another poor time, but at least the least poor one since November.
It was crowded, so I had to weave and go the long way around quite a lot, and a number of times, including those two from the first sector, I slowed in order to squeeze through or even wait for an opening in a roadblock, but the one brief stop was on sector three of lap one and it was caused by a dog that was off the leash and got right in my way. And there seemed to be a few moments when my heart once again felt a little weird, but maybe I was paying too much attention to that, especially after pushing so hard on the first sector, and I didn’t actually feel irregular heartbeats. And that was pretty much it; I wouldn’t say that there were other problems and even the lane was more usable than it usually is. I guess that I might have just squeezed under 48 minutes if it wouldn’t have been crowded, but that’s no excuse.

After having lunch, I left again a little before 6:15 PM, to actually take the book back to the Library, which had to be open again, but also taking the coins and the used batteries. I had dad’s metro card, which still had to be shown everywhere, and I got to the Library in half and hour, handing that book to someone and then deciding to look for another one after all, even if it was close to closing time. However, the title that was in my mind was that of one that I already read, so that was what I told the other guy when he asked whether I was looking for something, and handed him the Library pass, and what I searched for and then took when I spotted it, while he was still searching on the computer. So I ended up borrowing the wrong book and only realized it days later.
With that wrong book in the backpack, I returned to the metro station, actually going to the booth where I thought cards could be replaced and saying that it wasn’t being read anymore, but without actually asking for a replacement, and the person who was there didn’t mention the possibility, just telling me to go to the other booth, and when I did, that guy just opened the gate. So I continued with that card, getting off at Obor, going to that Carrefour and telling the people from the information desk what I was there for, and one of them, who was actually the same one I had talked to on December 31, called someone and said that the person with the complaint had arrived, and then she sent me to that central checkout. I also asked whether they had rechargeable batteries that day, but shrugged it off when I was told that they still didn’t and went in, finding someone waiting for me, and I handed over the coins and received the bill and the gift card and signed when I was asked to do so. Then I looked around the store and bought two cabbages, struggling to make them fit in the backpack, along with the book.
The initial plan was to then go straight to Penny, to use one of those discount vouchers, and I was pressed for time, needing to give the metro card back to dad before he’ll go to work, but I wanted to compare prices, so I decided to also check Kaufland, entering with the backpack and spotting deeply discounted bags of oranges that seemed to have had one removed from them, but the remaining ones looked good, so I grabbed three, and then I also saw two employees coming with some yogurts and placing additional discount labels on them. They did give the impression that they might have been discounting them in order to buy them themselves, but an old man started talking to them, and while they seemed to know him, I also had a look and saw that the discount was 85%, so even though those yogurts expired the next day, I took two. And then bakery discounts of 65% were announced, surprisingly early, and while the buns didn’t have discount labels yet, I took the regular labels, searched for a working price checker, since the one from the bakery area wasn’t working, and found that the discount applied to them as well. I hadn’t washed my hands and didn’t immediately spot gloves, but I just went for it and took some buns, with my hands as they were, after dropping the oranges and yogurts and the Penny catalog, where dad had marked and I had written what to look for… And then I apparently forgot to pick that catalog back up, but I remembered everything, and it no longer mattered just then anyway, since it was already clear that I’ll need to rush right back, so after also getting some beer for dad I looked around a little more.
At the self-checkout, at first the machine said that the buns weren’t the correct product, so I called over an employee and he checked and then logged on to override the error, but then the first bag of oranges gave the same error, so I called him over again and told him that it’ll probably give that error for each of the bags, since they’re not complete, and he logged back on and entered all of them, and also noticed and cleared the purchase of beer while he was there, so I didn’t have to call him over a third time after I was done. But as I was rushing to grab my purchases and let the next person use the machine, I threw everything into one bag and one of the handles tore when I picked it up, so I just freed the machine and then found a way to carry that bag out of that area, then put it on the cabinets that are before the exit, took the oranges out of it, since I could carry those bags separately, and tied that handle. And I was approaching the metro station when dad called to say that he was leaving, but I reached the station just in time, the metro arriving when I showed the card, so I was about to walk out of this station when dad called again, and I didn’t answer at first, thinking that he wanted to let me know that he was there. But he wasn’t, so I waited for him to call again and he said that he was still on the way, so I went a little farther, meeting him next to the church, giving him the metro card and quickly exchanging a few more words.
It was close to 8:55 PM when I got back here, with just about 17 kg, and I still had to go to Penny, so I dropped everything off and less than ten minutes later I was out again, rushing to Penny Titan and checking whether they had that cat food that dad keeps giving Liza, and buying for her regardless of the price if I don’t look for discounts, even though she still has plenty of the other kind that I used the vouchers I won last year for. Since it was also discounted those days, that was going to make up much or even most of the amount required in order to use that discount voucher, so if it’d have been sold out in that location, I’d have had to rush to the next one, but that was fortunately not the case, so I then started looking for the other products and trying to calculate how to exceed the required amount by as little as possible… Which took way too long, because I got confused and kept recalculating and making small changes even though I basically ended up replacing one product with two others that cost only a little less, and the previous total had exceeded that minimum amount by more than the difference, so it should have been clear, but I was getting ever more stressed as closing time was approaching and my brain wasn’t working anymore. But it was still a few minutes before 10 PM when I was finally convinced that everything was right and rushed to the checkout.
Well, everything was fine with the products and using that voucher, but I gave the cashier the bills and told him to wait because I had the coins as well, yet I had just given one and was digging the others out of my pocket when he closed the register, so I placed those remaining coins on the counter and took a 0.01 RON one that was already there, since I had rounded up, what I gave being 0.02 RON more than the actual total… But I ended up actually paying less, because the cashier left those coins on the counter, gave me the receipt, and then just put on his coat and walked out, leaving me alone in the store. I looked around and didn’t see anyone, not even a guard… So I retrieved those coins, then stopped at the cabinets for just a moment, only to arrange the purchases just enough to be able to carry them out, and when I walked out I saw the guard and that cashier chatting outside. Then I stopped a few steps away and arranged everything in the backpack. Since I had taken that cat food in a box, in order to make it easier to carry, I didn’t want to just throw that box in a garbage bin or, worse, simply leave it there, and I also didn’t want to turn back and use one of the recycling bins from Penny, so I took that with me as well, holding it in one hand and meaning to look for another recycling bin.
Moments later, I did end up leaving that box on a garbage bin, but only temporarily, because I decided to check that Mega Image as well, entering with the backpack. And I found some sausages that were discounted by 90% and took one box for dad, and an employee stared hard at me when I went towards that area, then walked away when I started looking, and then I saw her with other products, also discounted by 90%, at the checkout, and I hadn’t seen any of those products among the discounted ones, so I initially thought that I had missed something and rushed back, looking in another place as well and then just going back to the checkout when I still didn’t spot anything else. But when I saw the cashier put all of those products which had been purchased by her coworker in a basket and under the counter and then, as I added the sausages in the backpack, another employee, whom I had seen checking shelves with one of those machines that I think are used to generate those discount vouchers, came to the checkout with more deeply discounted products which I hadn’t seen, I got the distinct impression that I was bothering them while they were discounting products that were about to expire in order to buy them themselves, only those that they weren’t interested in being placed in that area. Either way, I then retrieved that box as well, putting it in a recycling bin quite some time later, when I finally reached one, even if that meant waiting for the next green light. And I also very quickly checked the nearby Mega Image, just entering with everything and then leaving again.
I was back for good at 10:45 PM, then I finished the fruit salad from my mother and also ate the last slice of that cake made by that friend of hers, did the day’s squats, in the kitchen, put some of the purchases in their place… And noticed that, before leaving, quite clearly when I grabbed my headphones, I had knocked down the miniature clay jug that Andra bought for me when she dragged me to a fair at one point. Fortunately, it didn’t break, though I’m not entirely certain that the rough spot on the bottom was there all along, so it’s possible that a tiny shard came off from that spot. But I had placed the first toenail lost because of running and the first white hairs I noticed on my head in it, and those were no longer there, and while I recovered the nail, the hairs must have gotten lost. Either way, it was 12:05 AM when I went to the toilet and to wash, being done a couple of minutes before 1 AM. Then I had a quick look on-line before going back to the kitchen, putting the remaining purchases in their place, eating a good part of some walnuts with pepper that I already had and putting the rest in the salad, so I got 850 calories just from those, and also washing what I had to wash. I started eating dinner at 3:10 AM, but still finished at 3:40 AM. And I’ll also mention here that the following night, so in the early hours of December 7, I received and redeemed Contraption Maker, along with its Wonderstructs and Battling Cards DLCs, though the message had been sent during the evening. They were given by that same guy who donates so much, after his Doc’s Intergalactic Clown School event.

In the early hours of January 12, I started eating dinner at 3:10 AM, but still finished at 3:40 AM, and had some more of the old peanut butter on some of the slices of bread. The alarm was set to ring at 1 PM, but I woke up when I think it was a little before 10:15 AM, though it might have been up to ten minutes later, since I checked the time twice and instantly forgot what I saw both times, and I doubt that I managed to get any more sleep after that. I didn’t hear noise just then, but something had probably woken me, because drilling started before I got back to my room, after peeing and having a quick look at what dad had brought in the morning, and while there weren’t only periods when there was just dull hammering but even a couple of quiet periods, and I tried to get back to sleep, I don’t think that I did. Or, if I managed it at all, I must have woken up again mere moments later. So, when I heard dad getting ready to leave, I checked the time again, saw that it was 12:45 PM, turned off the alarm and went to exchange a few words with him… And what was annoying was that the noise stopped not long after that, and didn’t restart until I left. Either way, I then had the usual stuff, with the sweet thing being a slice of cozonac from my mother, with added honey, and left a little after 3:35 PM, wearing the running gear, an undershirt, another t-shirt, the shirt from the old training suit that I wear inside, the gloves, and that thing on my neck, pulled up on the way to the park, when I obviously also wore the jacket, keeping it tied around my waist as I ran. The reported temperature was about 1°C, dropping to 0°C when I finished.
The time was 48:56.07, with sector times of 4:20.48, 5:13.09, 6:08.37, 4:36 (4:35.79), 5:10 (5:09.28), 6:01.37, 4:37.13, 5:08 (5:07.87), 5:56 (5:55.72) and 1:47 (1:46.97), making for lap times of 15:41.94, 15:47 (15:46.44) and 15:41 (15:40.72). Considering the cold, I was thinking that just staying under 50 minutes might just be acceptable, and I’ll be quite content with beating that 49:41 from December 4, yet after the first two sectors I was quite certain that I’ll cover the first lap in less than 15:30 and perhaps just give myself a chance to stay under 49 minutes. However, despite thinking that I had been pushing on sector three of lap one, that poor time made me think that even beating that 49:41 will be a struggle, so I pushed more on lap two and was somewhat relieved at the end of it, when it seemed like getting under 49:30 was pretty much certain. But that made me wonder whether I could do better after all, and while I briefly wondered about getting under 49 minutes once again, I quickly discarded that idea as impossible and meant to at least try to be no more than a minute slower than last week. And the first two sectors of lap three seemed to give me a pretty good chance, so I pushed on sector three of lap three, hoping to be more or less safe at the end of the lap. But when I saw that I had managed that, I wondered whether I still had enough in me for a really good final sector and somehow just squeeze under 49 minutes after all, so I pushed like crazy and actually made it with a few seconds to spare. Not that this is not, in itself, a bad time, but I’m quite content with it, considering the circumstances, and that good final sector, plus the fact that the only decent sector three of the day was on lap three, showed that I could have pushed harder.
The fact that the lane was rather frozen actually made it more usable, and there were just a handful of small patches of ice, but I did slip twice, slightly, on sector three of lap two and sector two of lap three. A light snowfall started at the end of sector two of lap one and it bothered me for the next few minutes, getting in my eyes, but on lap two it got even lighter and was no longer a problem. It picked up a little on lap three, once again bothering me a little, but not as much as on sector three of lap one, and the dark cloud it came with wasn’t quite dark enough to make me need to slow significantly in order to see the times, though I probably lost a little bit of time in order to do that, and I likely also lost a little time whenever I took off the glove in order to press the button and then put it back on, since I only kept it off on the final sector. But the relatively few people caused no notable problems and just occasional weaving and going the long way around, and physically I felt better than I expected, considering the cold. I did feel rather stiff at first and my lungs were starting to hurt before they got used to that cold air, but those problems went away quickly, and while my nostrils were tightening a little, it wasn’t a notable problem except on the final straight, when I pushed so hard, and I managed to get enough air even then.

Since I once again heard drilling when I got back to the building, I went up the stairs until I identified the source, on the sixth floor, also seeing the nice decorations on the fifth floor in the process. Then I ate a banana and lunch, changed my pants and left again when it was past 6:20 PM, dad just getting back to leave the metro card, which I still had to show everywhere, a few minutes earlier, before leaving again, saying that he was going to a neighbor for a drink. But I couldn’t have left earlier anyway, and dad had called to ask whether I needed him to get back a little sooner, so he had nothing to do with the fact that I left rather late.
Well, this time around it was too late, seeing as I wanted to return that book which I had borrowed by accident and get the correct one instead, but I reached that location of the Library around 6:50 PM and found that it was dark. The gate was still open, however, so I tried the door, but it was locked. I saw some activity at a side door and a girl who walked through the gate at that point went straight there, so I don’t know whether she worked there and had things to do after closing time or just knew what to do when you get there just before closing time, but one of the guys came to close the gate when I was just turning away from the door, so I rushed to him, asked to be allowed to leave and muttered, repeatedly, that I wanted to return a book but it seemed that they closed early. He said that it was five minutes before closing time, I said that I was at the door at 6:51 PM, and then he said that if I just wanted to return a book, I could give it to him, so I did that, without mentioning that I’d have liked to borrow one as well, since that quite clearly seemed to be out of the question. Then he took the book away, asking me to wait for him to confirm that it was returned, so I did that and a little later he came with a receipt.
Then I took the metro to Obor and first went to Auchan, getting the toothpaste for dad and some walnuts with pepper that were among the expiring products. But when I used the self-checkout, there was a message that I needed assistance, so I called over the employee and he sorted it out. However, those walnuts were of their own brand and 5% of the value should have therefore been placed on the store card, which didn’t happen, probably because they were expiring products and what showed up on the receipt was something generic, so the real discount was lower, but I didn’t comment, just putting the purchases in the backpack and continuing to that mall.
After quickly checking that bookstore, I entered Carrefour, with the backpack, and took two expiring products out of that huge pile, the roes actually being in the full cart that was next to the refrigerator, but I didn’t think that it was going to be a problem, and it wasn’t. Then I saw what seemed to be a wrong price for garlic, as if the first digit had fallen away, but I checked on the scales and confirmed that the listed price was correct, the reason for it becoming obvious when I actually looked at the garlic and saw how bad it was. But I had some time, so I stayed there for a while, selecting some that was still good enough, and since the employees had started making the bakery discounts a little earlier, that also meant that the bread that I get from there was discounted by the time I was done, so I got two. But those vouchers with 20% of the value applied to salty snacks again those days, so I wanted to get some more of those small bagels, and possibly also some corn puffs, but the bagels were not in the area where the signs were, so I asked an employee whether they were included and she didn’t know, telling me to see at the checkout, when it was going to be too late. So, before going to the self-checkout, with all of those and a few other products, plus some sweet pastries for my mother which had also been discounted by then, I asked the employees who were at that desk that’s in that area, and one checked on his phone and confirmed that they were included. I still paid for them separately, however, to make really sure. But the problem appeared later, when I scanned the corn puffs and saw a price that was higher than the listed one, so after scanning everything else I called over an employee and asked him to remove them and take them away, not bothering to say why I didn’t want them or asking for a price check, since I didn’t want them that much anyway.
Since I had the purchases from Carrefour in two bags, I just put those bags in a cabinet when I reached Kaufland, then washed my hands and entered the store with the backpack, at 9:35 PM. There weren’t many bakery products left, but there were only a few labels with discounted prices and the employee who was there was asking for another one to give her the new ones, since other customers were asking, so I scanned a couple of labels and also checked on those sheets of paper when they were brought, and since one more interesting product didn’t have a discount, I just took two regular buns, then got yogurt, some spoiling mushrooms, and some beer for dad, since it was heavily discounted those days. This probably wasn’t exactly a good idea, but before getting to the reason why I’ll also mention that the closing announcement came when I was either waiting in line at the self-checkout or even already using it, and I obviously needed to call employee to authorize the sale of beer. And then I had to try several times before the cabinet unlocked, but it eventually did and I arranged the purchases, walking out a little before 10:10 PM, though I then stopped one more time, to move two things which had been left in a bag into the backpack.
I got back at 10:45 PM, with a little over 13.5 kg, and saw that dad was taking a bath and the bathroom door was ajar, but I dropped the bags and backpack and took off my jacket and shoes before greeting him, and then going there and even knocking on the door when he didn’t reply. When he still didn’t reply, I entered… And found him sleeping in a bathtub that was almost completely full, with the water still running! So I woke him, at which point he turned off the water… And splashed some of it on the floor, but dismissed it when I pointed it out, and when I told him to release some of the water he told me to leave him alone because it was fine. And he sounded drunk, and this time around I could pick up on it, unlike that first time, when I was panicking and also had never seen him drunk before, or at least couldn’t remember any such occasion, so I didn’t even consider the possibility until after the fact. At least I arrived just in time to prevent him from flooding the place again. He later insisted that he had set an alarm and I had arrived just before it was supposed to ring, but that bathtub was moments away from overflowing and I didn’t hear any alarm just then.
Either way, I then put most of the purchases in their place, ate something sweet and those walnuts with pepper, so there were once again 850 calories just from those walnuts, cleaned a little in the kitchen, keeping myself busy for as long as possible, and it was past 12:10 AM, maybe closer to 12:15 AM, when I asked dad whether he was going to stay there any longer… And he said that he was and even asked why, though when I said that I’d like to wash as well he did get moving, finally coming out after a while… And just walking past the kitchen a couple of times, rather sheepishly, then saying bye and wanting to go to bed. At that point I asked whether he had too much to drink and he said “not exactly”, but I disagreed and reminded him that we should have talked about the next day, and also about money, as hard and annoying as that is, so he said that he’ll stay for another hour, but I wanted to wash, plus that a serious conversation with him seemed rather improbable at that point, so I just asked when did he plan to leave and, after he told me, whether he could do so later, so we’ll have time to talk before that. And he agreed to that, then fell asleep pretty much the moment he got in bed.
It was 12:30 AM when I went to the bathroom, to use the toilet and wash, and then I mopped up some more water and moved a few things, walking out of the bathroom at 1:40 AM. Then I gathered my clothes which were hung to dry, cleaned a little after dad in the living room as well, and put the remaining purchases in their place, finally being done with those things at 2:30 AM, and then also dealing with one of my breads, so it wasn’t bad that I ate dinner between 3:30 AM and 4:05 AM. On the other hand, while working on dinner, I heard two cracks that seemed to come from the freezer and sounded like plastic breaking, the first one being fainter and the second one being quite loud. I didn’t notice what it could have been, neither then nor later, but it made me worry about the fridge once again. Either way, I got in bed at 5:40 AM, and it took me a while to fall asleep, and after waking up to pee at 9:50 AM I couldn’t get back to sleep at all, even though there was only faint noise coming from that neighbor and dad only got up at noon, so I finally gave up and got up as well soon after that. But at least I got some more sleep in the evening.

After only starting to write in the evening and really struggling with it and taking breaks, just posting the parts about the two actual runs before midnight was all that I could do, leaving the parts about the rest of these two days for some other time. And it was only in the early hours of Thursday that I managed to post the part about the rest of January 12, since I had meant to write that directly and therefore didn’t have many notes, so I wanted to write it first. As for the part about the rest of January 5, I only managed to add it Sunday evening.

This was initially just meant to be a very quick post about the next Artemis missions getting delayed, pretty much limited to yet again pointing out that we, even as a species, still can’t seem to manage to do something that we could do 55 years ago, and that even the country that did it back then, when the will and the determination to do it existed, still can’t even repeat that achievement. However, my mind then continued down that path and, seeing as the competition between the two superpowers and the fact that each felt terribly threatened if the other would get up there first led to the Space Race and therefore to that achievement, I wanted to ask why don’t we also have a Climate or Decarbonization Race, or something similar to protect biodiversity, greatly reduce inequality, eliminate poverty, eradicate preventable diseases and so on. After all, the most powerful countries could compete on those fields as well, and environmental and social problems are serious threats and whoever would solve them first would definitely be a winner on the world stage.
Well, to answer my own question, it seems to me that humanity needs losers more than winners, this determination to do whatever it takes in order to achieve something extraordinary on a large scale being driven by the desire to be able to use it against others and the fear of how others could use it against you, the fear probably being the more powerful of the two. And the problem with solving those major environmental or social problems is that everybody’d win, because at this point it’s no longer a technological problem, we know what to do, what’s missing being the will to do it, which would be proven once a major power would actually do it, at which point all the others would just follow suit and there would be no losers left. Of course, there’s also the fact that it’s not a single, specific, achievement, one moment that we can mark on the calendar and set down in history, but I do believe that the lack of losers, the fact that such an achievement won’t be something to hold over others but rather a model, a guide, that would help them quickly follow suit, is an important aspect of what holds us back. And that, once again, proves that “the chief obstacle to the progress of the human race is the human race“.

At least I managed to get myself to shave in the early hours of November 10, but that meant going to the kitchen around 1:25 AM, and there were some things to wash as well, and I made a salad that was too big, so I ended up eating dinner between 3:20 AM and 4:05 AM. And I was increasingly worried about the blisters, probably canker sores, on the lower left side of my mouth, but at the time I was only aware of the small ones, on the inside of my lower lip and on that side of my tongue, which had been there for quite some time and seemed to be getting worse, noticing that the left side of my tongue tended to feel swollen after I ate and bothered me. I had popped the blister from my lower lip a few days before and it was better for a couple of days, but then it reformed, so before shaving I popped it again. And I’m sure that I had both burned and bitten myself badly in that area quite a few times, but I had no idea how recently or whether those problems appeared after that or the swelling was what caused me to bite myself in the first place.
Moving on, that was the first day when Carrefour’s campaign was taking place at Orhideea, so I had lunch and left at 4:20 PM, with dad’s metro card, which was again not being read, so I had to show it in order to pass, and 30 bottles, 12 of them straightened and eight granting two products. But I took the metro from this station, got off at Basarab and went to Kaufland first, leaving the bag with some of the bottles on the cabinets, since I didn’t see large ones at all, and just buying some cornmeal, which I put in the jacket’s inside pockets, since I had taken the warmer one. Then I retrieved that bag and walked to Carrefour.
The people who were handling the campaign in that location were different from those from the previous locations, and they were just adding more vegetables when I got there, so I waited a little, then asked whether I could put the bottles in the machine myself, which hadn’t been the case at the previous locations, and was told that I could. When one of the guys saw the straightened ones, he said that they may not be accepted, but I got it to work, and the machine also accepted a small one from that brand of beer that has those medium ones that keep getting refused by the machines, and I also put in four of those that granted two products. I received four Golden apples, weighing 559 grams, four carrots, weighing 398 grams, four onions, weighing 868 grams, four red potatoes, weighing 650 grams, four parsnip roots, weighing 727 grams, and five heads of garlic, weighing 197 grams, since the guy added one more.
After putting everything in the backpack, I entered the store with it, finding that the price of that bread that I get for dad had dropped even more, so I bought quite a lot, plus a few other things, those other products granting those vouchers those days. And those vouchers were also granted for frozen products, which hadn’t been listed on-line, but I didn’t get any of those, wanting to ask dad first. On the other hand, several products were being promoted in the store and I eventually took popcorn, but I didn’t eat it inside the store and also didn’t get a sample of yogurt, since that promoter wasn’t there and didn’t even return while I wandered around for a while longer, and I wasn’t sure that the one cup that was left there hadn’t been tasted by someone else or otherwise tainted. And the time I lost while waiting for that promoter meant that the one self-checkout that accepted cash which still worked when I first passed by it was also closed by the time I wanted to use it, so I had to use a regular checkout and the receipt that contained the voucher received for previous purchases that I used was taken away… And then I saw that green onions and radishes had appeared among what could be obtained in exchange for recyclables, and that was actually the only time when I saw either of those products, and it was obviously too late for me that day. So I arranged the purchases a little, washed my hands, and walked out, pulling down the mask once I was outside and eating that sample of popcorn on the way to the metro station, finishing before pulling out the card.
I got off at Titan and went to that Penny, putting the bags with the purchases from Carrefour in a cabinet but entering with the backpack. And I bought quite a number of things, including some expiring mozzarella that the cashier forgot to scan the discount code for, even though I had placed the expiring products with that label on top, so I let him know and he sorted it out. Then I retrieved what I had in the cabinet and arranged everything, then rushed back, since dad called a little after I walked out and I had to give him back the metro card, so there was no more time to also enter a Mega Image and see whether I could buy a knife that I wanted.
I got back a couple of minutes after 8:30 PM, with almost 18 kg. Then I put a load of laundry in the washing machine, also put the other purchases, with the exception of the bread and the zacusca, in their place, ate something sweet and a bag of bagels, weighed what I received, washed some of what was to wash in the kitchen, did the day’s squats, wasted some time on the toilet, washed, watered the plants on the balcony, also put the zacusca in its place, in that cabinet from the balcony… And as I opened that cabinet, the light bulb that I had placed on the inside of the door fell and some flimsy components and wires broke, so I guess that dad had knocked it down while getting something else, probably making it end up on the edge of the shelf, only held there by the closed door, and never even noticed, since he obviously denied ever touching it. Either way, I then hung the clothes to dry, straightened more bottles, ate some baked pumpkin while cleaning up in the kitchen, sliced one of dad’s breads and put the others away, and finally ate dinner between 4:20 AM and 4:55 AM. I got in bed at 5:35 AM, after dad got back, and it took me a while to fall asleep.

Well, while it started later, the work on the building continued even on a Saturday, so I was woken up by drilling at 9:38 AM and minutes later decided to get up, to at least be able to use the metro card once again, since dad had said that he was going to need it after 2:30 PM. And, while he slept through the drilling as if it wasn’t even happening, he did wake up before I left, to use the toilet, and at that point he said that he only needed to be at Dristor at 2:50 PM, so I had even more time and we could meet there. So I left at 11:20 AM… Only to realize after a while, when I wanted to see how the garbage bag that I had placed over the large bag that contained some of the bottles was positioned, in case I’ll find more of those bottles that granted two products, that I had forgotten to take that large bag! So I ran back, retrieved that bag… And as I was walking away again I realized that I couldn’t remember whether I had locked the door again, so I rushed back one more time, confirming that I had, and actually, finally, left at 11:30 AM, with 32 bottles, once again including 12 straightened ones and eight that granted two products, but also the four remaining small ones and one medium one from that brand of beer and one other bottle that I wasn’t sure would be accepted. And I actually did spot one of those bottles just steps away from the spot where I was when I meant to check that bag and ended up turning around, so I grabbed it and put it in that bag. Then, despite rushing, after once again showing the card at the metro station and getting off at Basarab, I still checked Kaufland, leaving both the bag and the backpack on the cabinets, but I didn’t find anything to get, so I then retrieved them and continued to Carrefour.
Since I found no line when I got there and the guy said that it was a good thing that I came to recycle, I assumed that it had been quite dead until then, but towards the end he said that my timing had been perfect, because there had been huge lines earlier, people waiting for half an hour, and I came just after they cleared completely. But there weren’t many interesting products left to get, so I didn’t use any of those bottles that granted two products, though I at least managed to put in all of the straightened ones, even if a few required a couple of attempts, as well as that other one that I wasn’t sure of and the small ones from that brand of beer. The medium one still didn’t work, however, not even after several attempts and trying it right after another one that was easily accepted, as the guy told me to do. Either way, I ended up receiving four Golden apples, weighing 641 grams, four apples of another kind, maybe Idared, weighing 578 grams, four red potatoes, weighing 644 grams, four white potatoes, weighing 768 grams, and four carrots, weighing 624 grams.
After arranging everything in the backpack, I washed my hands and entered the store, with it. And those products were still being promoted, so that day I sampled three of them, ignoring the popcorn, since I had already had some of that the previous day and didn’t dare to ask for another sample. But I’d have liked to sample two more products, since they were being offered, yet in one case the promoter was not at her post and didn’t return while I wandered around a little longer, and the other one didn’t have samples laid out when I looked, and I’m not actually sure that she did offer samples and wasn’t there just to talk and hand out fliers, and I didn’t ask. But I did have some of that yogurt with cereals, the promoter saying that it was gluten-free “Greek” yogurt, so after eating the sample I said that I assumed that she meant that the cereals were gluten-free, since the yogurt can’t contain gluten. And that was all I did in that Carrefour that day, since I decided to leave buying the frozen peas for later and didn’t find anything else.
When I got back to the metro, there was nobody at that entrance, so I couldn’t show the card, but at least at that station you can get from one entrance to another without going back up, so I did so… And when I showed the card to the guy who was there, he said that his coworker could make a duplicate, for free, so I had that done and could then use that card normally, getting off at Dristor and going to that non-stop Mega Image to buy that knife, and also getting some bio (organic) eggs that I spotted among those sold by piece and an expiring sweet thing. I made a mistake when I calculated the total, thinking that it was 0.10 RON more, so when I thought that I was rounding down a little when I told the cashier how much it should be, I actually rounded up a little more, and I received the change according to what I said, but so be it, and I had found a 0.10 RON coin while I was there anyway. Then I arranged the purchases in the backpack and walked out, dad calling as I was on my way to check whether that new Penny had opened yet, finding that it still hadn’t. But I had told dad that we’ll meet there, so I picked up another one of those bottles, even if it was quite soiled, and waited for him there, to give him what was then a working metro card. And he also didn’t seem to know that you could request such duplicates, albeit only at certain stations and between certain hours.
After we went our separate ways, I went to Carrefour Park Lake, still holding that dirty bottle. And, after seeing that there were hardly any free cabinets, and none of those were large ones, I decided to enter with the backpack, but I didn’t want to put that bottle in it as it was, so I eventually put it in a small cabinet, without locking, since I had no 0.50 RON coin and didn’t care to use that machine just for that. And then, while I once again left the frozen peas for later, I bought a few expiring products, including an expiring piece of bread which I bought for myself and which I tried to hold carefully even if it was in a plastic bag, since I hadn’t washed my hands after holding that bottle. Either way, I also used the remaining voucher received for previous purchases that I could use at the time, the one received the previous day not being active yet… And then I saw that somebody had taken that bottle out, in order to use that cabinet, but they had just dropped it on the floor, so I took it back and, after removing the other purchases from the backpack, initially put it there after all, after which I put all of the purchases in a cabinet, since I had received a 0.50 RON coin as change. However, since I then went to pee and thoroughly wash my hands, I took that bottle back out and washed it before putting it back in the backpack, after which I washed my hands again.
Even if it had started raining properly by the time I walked back out, I continued to the Penny that’s before that Kaufland, leaving the backpack on the cabinets and then just retrieving it. Then I entered Kaufland with the backpack and bought a few things, being charged for what the olives were placed in, and at the self-checkout I tried to cover the real bar code of an expiring juice but somehow failed, so it scanned at the full price and I had to call over an employee. Then I added those purchases in the backpack and started to make my way back.
Well, I didn’t make my way back, because I ended up deciding to check the Penny from Titan as well, still looking for the cat food that was on sale… And then, since I had chosen a longer route anyway, deciding to check another Penny first, thinking that it was more or less directly south of that one. However, as time passed I realized that it’s actually much farther, past Auchan, so I eventually went to the one that’s next to Auchan instead, entering with the backpack and then just leaving again, after having wasted all that time, since I still couldn’t find any of that cat food left. However, plenty of it was left at the next one, which I checked as I made my way back from there, once again entering with the backpack, so I bought three bags, since that was what I could afford. So it was a good thing that I hadn’t bought those frozen peas that day, since I was then only left with just enough in bills for a carton of the eggs that I had seen the previous day at Titan, the price having been lower than the usual one and expiring relatively soon, but without actually being labeled as expiring products. However, when I got there, put the cat food in a cabinet, entered with the backpack, and checked, I saw that they were back to the full price, and the expiration date was farther away. But I did find two more expiring products that I could get and afford, so I bought those, then retrieved that cat food and arranged everything.
I had meant to be back by 7 PM, but I only managed to get back to Park Lake at that time, so I added the bags in that cabinet, washed my hands one more time and entered Carrefour again, since those promoters had been there as well earlier and I meant to eat some more samples, since I hadn’t taken any from there the first time around. However, none were left at that hour, and all but one stand had even been removed, so after searching for a little while I just walked back out and retrieved my things… And a woman came next to me as I did that, I hurried to empty the cabinet, in case she wanted to use it, and when she asked whether she could help I said that I could handle it, tried to hurry even more and pulled away, and the expiring bio (organic) yogurt fell, and it had been banged up to begin with. At least it didn’t crack, but I was panicking and hadn’t really recovered by the time I arranged everything and walked away, so I lost a little more time by using the wrong exit and having a longer way to go. And, while I saw another one of those bottles right on top of a full trash can just after walking out of that mall, a guy was standing right there, so I didn’t take it and therefore didn’t even get that little “compensation” for using that exit. Either way, I also had a quick look in the nearby Mega Image, leaving one bag next to the cabinets and putting another in one, without locking, then retrieving them.
I got back just before 7:40 PM, with just under 16 kg. Then I put the purchases in their place and placed what I received on the table, ate the one banana and drank that nice expiring juice which I had bought from Kaufland, washed the new knife and a few other things, waited for dad to get back, then went to the bathroom, to use the toilet and wash. After that, I weighed what I received and put those things in their place as well, had lunch, washed some more things and got to work on straightening bottles for the next day.
When dad came to the kitchen at one point, I told him that I was tired, and I was also struggling with a bottle which had been crushed differently and there didn’t seem to be any way to get the bottom straightened, so he asked to try and did so for a little while, but after also seeing that there was no way to straighten it with that metal rod that I use and his hands, he blew in it. I told him that I wouldn’t do that, considering how those bottles had been stored and for how long, but he didn’t care, so I then asked him not to, saying that it made me feel like I was jeopardizing him, possibly making him sick, but he blew me off and I just felt increasingly worse as he took the bottles that I still meant to straighten and blew in all of them, straightening them in seconds and telling me that he’ll do those and then I can do the rest. And yes, that is how it’s done if you want to do it quickly, but I wouldn’t do it that way and definitely didn’t want him to either, or at least not for any of those that I’ll benefit from, but when he got in my face I froze, just repeating that he shouldn’t do it, and he repeated that he didn’t care and then walked away… And I had a breakdown, closed the door, threw a bottle on the floor and was probably about to cry when he said something else, through the door, which caused me to switch to anger and throw the other bottles that he had blown in. Then I sat there a little longer before eventually putting those bottles away, finding others from the same brand and straightening those instead.
Either way, he went to take a bath while I finished cleaning and washing, also took a pill, just in case, sliced two more of those breads which I had bought for him the previous day, using the new knife and cutting myself, and even did the day’s squats. And by then I had sort of managed to get myself past the state which probably wouldn’t have allowed me to eat, so I worked on lunch. And I’d have cut myself a couple more times while working on the salad, but I fortunately ended up just cutting into a nail. And I did exchange a few words with dad after he finished his bath, and I ate dinner between 3:20 AM and 4 AM.

On November 12, I could finally sleep well, then I did the day’s squats and left just before 5:15 PM, with 32 bottles, 18 of them straightened and eight granting two products. I could once again use the metro card, so I took the metro, and there was a little line when I got to Carrefour, but the problem was a man who put in a whole lot of recyclables, one of the guys telling me when I asked that he was alone but put in 40 bottles that granted two products and demanded 80 products. He initially claimed that he was with someone who was in the store and made quite a fuss when he was asked to call that other person over, and after receiving the products he could receive on his own, he started wandering around and trying to find someone who’d agree to say that they were with him, and I heard one of the guys say that he had been there multiple times in one day as well, possibly even that day. And there weren’t many things to pick from to begin with and he also almost cleared the Golden apples and the carrots.
Under those circumstances, I didn’t use any of my bottles that granted two products, and one of the straightened ones wouldn’t be accepted. But I had enough spares, so I put in 20 and then asked for red apples, which might have been Jonathan that day, white potatoes and onions, so there should have been four of each, but when I opened the bag I noticed that, while they were admittedly small, the guy had given me five of those apples, weighing 586 grams, and six potatoes, weighing 401 grams. As for the four onions, they weighed 456 grams. Then I looked at the other side and saw just two Golden apples, one carrot, and two tiny cucumbers among the parsnip roots, so I asked for all of those, the apples weighing 287 grams, the carrot 62 grams and the cucumbers 59 grams, plus three parsnip roots, which weighed 360 grams. I reached for the cucumbers myself, but the guy told me to let him touch them, so I pulled my hand back… And then he said that he could add something else, asking whether I wanted some potatoes and I said that it could be anything, and when I got back I saw that he had added six red potatoes, albeit also small, weighing 517 grams, and I hadn’t even noticed that red potatoes were available until the end.
I was arranging everything in the backpack when they restocked, bringing a full cart of products, including many tomatoes and Golden apples, so I guess I got there at the worst time that day. But there was nothing to do about it at that point, so I washed my hands and entered the store, wondering whether those promoters would still be there. They weren’t, however, so I just bought the frozen peas and also another bag of frozen spinach for dad… And got annoyed because a couple with a full cart seemed to be almost done using the only self-checkout that accepted cash when I got there, but then the guy had trouble paying, trying by phone and by card, so they blocked the one machine that accepted cash even though they could have used any other one, and it took a while before the problem was sorted out.
After adding the purchases in the backpack, I walked to Kaufland, entering the store with it after using the toilet. I asked whether the 30% discount that applied to processed meat products those days also applied to some sausages that I’d have gotten for dad, but was told that it didn’t, so I didn’t. Then, after grabbing another product, I noticed that a few customers were already grabbing things from the bakery area even if there were no discount labels and there hadn’t been any announcement, and it was just after 7:30 PM, so I scanned a label and saw that the evening discounts did indeed apply, and the employee came out after that. However, she took her time with the discount labels, even simply leaving the sheets of paper there, so I was searching for what I was interested in on those papers when another customer asked about another product, at which point I told her that she could take the label and scan it at a price checker, and after she said that she wouldn’t bring it back if she’d do that, I took it and scanned it for her, confirming that the 50% discount applied to it as well. Either way, I just got some buns, also meaning to get one more, which was the last one of that kind, but scanning the label, finding that it wasn’t discounted, and putting it back. Then I grabbed one more thing that had a good evening discount and carrots, which had a great evening discount. I had waited to see whether I’d somehow see cabbage among what could be received in exchange for recyclables those days, as unlikely as it was, so I hadn’t bought any until then and there was none left in that Kaufland at that hour, but I decided that I was going to use boiled carrots for the salad, at that price. And I stayed around the fruits and vegetables until a few minutes past 8 PM, to see whether the discounts would increase even more, but they had increased before 8 PM and didn’t do so again at that point.
Dad called just as I got on the metro, and while I was thinking that we’ll meet at the station, he said that I’ll probably be back by the time he’ll leave. I doubted it, since I calculated that I should be back around 8:45 PM and he should have been gone by then, so I walked back from the metro station with the phone in my hand, since he had said that he’ll call when he’ll walk out, but I was back just before 8:45 PM and he was still here. And he had cooked, so there was a lot to wash and clean, plus that he had forgotten about the expiring meat which he should have split and left for me to arrange in the freezer, so after cleaning the litter box I split that meat, ate some baked pumpkin, and then went to shove a bag of trash down the overstuffed chute. Then I cleaned and washed some of what was in the kitchen, put the purchases, with the exception of the carrots, in their place, even somehow managing to stuff all of the frozen products in the freezer, and ate lunch, during which time I really quickly put together that week’s second post. Then I showered, weighed what I received and put those things in their place as well, sliced dad’s remaining breads and managed to also put those in the freezer, finished cleaning and most of the washing in the kitchen, had dinner between 4 AM and 5 AM, and got in bed at 5:30 AM. And I could sleep, the loud drilling only starting at 1:10 PM. On the other hand, while the blister on my inner lip didn’t return after I popped it the second time, there was a strange taste in my mouth and my tongue really bothered me, so I had a better look and that was when I noticed the huge blister that was under my tongue, on that same side, and which only finally healed a couple of weeks ago.